Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Praise the Lord: ye heav’ns, adore Him;
Praise Him, angels in the height.
Sun and moon, bow down before Him;
Praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord, for He hath spoken;
Worlds His mighty voice obeyed.
Laws which never shall be broken
For their guidance hath He made.

Praise the Lord ye highest mountains
As the moon enlightened each
With this praise all in Thee mourn
A church as sinners we have strayed
Praise the Lord all hosts and with Him
Praise the Lord all great high earth
All we faithful, all creation
Glad upon us hangs the earth.

Praise the Lord, for He is glorious;
Never shall His promise fail.
God hath made His saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His pow’r proclaim.
Heav’n and earth and all creation,
Laud and magnify His Name.
Amen.

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever
Give thanks to the God of gods
for his love endures for ever
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his love endures for ever;

who alone has wrought marvelous works,
for his love endures for ever;
whose wisdom it was made the skies,
for his love endures for ever;
who fixed the earth firmly on the seas,
for his love endures for ever.

It was he who made the great lights,
for his love endures for ever;
the sun to rule in the day,
for his love endures for ever;
the moon and the stars in the night,
for his love endures for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. None but the Lord has done such marvels; his love endures for ever.

Ant. 2 He brought Israel out of Egypt with powerful hand and arm outstretched.

II

The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,
for his love endures for ever
He brought Israel out from the midst,
for his love endures for ever;
arm outstretched, with power in his hand,
for his love endures for ever.

He divided the Red Sea in two,
for his love endures for ever;
he made Israel pass through the midst,
for his love endures for ever;
he flung Pharaoh and his force in the sea,
for his love endures for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. He brought Israel out of Egypt with powerful hand and arm outstretched.

Ant. 3 Give praise to the God of heaven; he has ransomed us from our enemies.

III

Through the desert his people he led,
for his love endures for ever
Nations in their greatness he struck,
for his love endures for ever
Kings in their splendor he slew,
for his love endures for ever.

Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his love endures for ever;
and Og, the king of Bashan,
for his love endures for ever.

He let Israel inherit their land,
for his love endures for ever
On his servant their land he bestowed,
for his love endures for ever
He remembered us in our distress,
for his love endures for ever.

And he snatched us away from our foes,
for his love endures for ever
He gives food to all living things,
for his love endures for ever
To the God of heaven give thanks,
for his love endures for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

God, our Creator, how wonderfully you made us. You transformed dust into your own image and gave it a share in your own nature; yet you are more wonderful in pardoning the one who had rebelled against you. Grant that where sin has abounded, grace may more abound, so that we can become holier through forgiveness and be more grateful to you.

Ant. Give praise to the God of heaven; he has ransomed us from our enemies.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

Lord, show me your ways.– Teach me to walk in your footsteps.

READINGS

First reading
From the book of the prophet Hosea6:1-7:2
The emptiness of an insincere conversion

Thus says the Lord:
In their affliction, they shall look for me:
“Come, let us return to the Lord,
For it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”

What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.
But they, in their land, violated the covenant;
there they were untrue to me.

Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
As brigands ambush a man,
a band of priests slay on the way to Shechem,
committing monstrous crime.
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing:
there harlotry is found in Ephraim,
Israel is defiled.
For you also, O Judah,
a harvest has been appointed.

When I would bring about the restoration of my people,
when I would heal Israel,
The guilt of Ephraim stands out,
the wickedness of Samaria;
They practice falsehood,
thieves break in, bandits plunder abroad.
Yet they do not remind themselves
that I remember all their wickedness.
Even now their crimes surround them,
present to my sight.

RESPONSORY Matthew 9:13; Hosea 6:6, 4

Go and learn the meaning of these words:– I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

Your love is like the morning cloud, the dew that swiftly fades away.– I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

Second reading
From the treatise Against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus, bishopIt is mercy that I want, not sacrifice

That they might be saved God demanded of these men of old not sacrifices and holocausts, but faith, obedience and righteousness. God expressed his will when he taught them in the words of Hosea: I desire mercy more than sacrifices, the knowledge of God more than holocausts. Our Lord’s warning to them was the same: If you had known what was meant by the words “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” you would never have condemned the guiltless. He bore witness that the prophets had spoken the truth; he also brought home to his listeners the folly of their own sin.

Moreover, he instructed his disciples to offer to God the firstfruits of creation, not because God had any need, but so that they themselves should not be unproductive and ungrateful. This is why he took bread, a part of his creation, gave thanks and said: This is my body. In the same way he declared that the cup, an element of the same creation as ourselves, was his blood; he taught them that this was the new sacrifice of the new covenant. The Church has received this sacrifice from the apostles; throughout the world she offers to God, who feeds us, the firstfruits of his own gifts, under the new covenant. It was foretold by Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, in the words: I take no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and no sacrifice will I accept from your hands. For, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the Gentiles glorify my name, and in every place incense and a spotless sacrifice are offered to my name; my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty.

But what name is glorified among the Gentiles if not that of our Lord, through whom glory is given both to the Father and to man. And since this name belongs to his own Son, who became man by the Father’s will, the Father calls this name his own. If a king were to paint a picture of his son, he could claim it as his own on two counts: because it is his son’s picture, and because he himself made it. In the same way, the Father declares that the name of Jesus Christ, which is glorified in the Church throughout the world, is his own, because it is his Son’s name and because he wrote it to save mankind.

And so, since the Son’s name belongs to the Father and since the Church makes its offerings through Jesus Christ to almighty God, for these two reasons the prophet is right when he says: In every place incense and a pure sacrifice are offered to my name. In the book of Revelation, John speaks of incense as the prayer of the saints.

RESPONSORY See Luke 22:19, 20; Proverbs 9:5

This is my body which will be given up for you; this is the blood of the new covenant which will be shed for you, says the Lord.– Whenever you receive them, do this in memory of me.

Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed for you.– Whenever you receive them, do this in memory of me.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Draw near to your servants,
O Lord, and answer their prayers
with unceasing kindness, that,
for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide,
you may restore what you have created
and keep safe what you have restored.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.– Amen.